You won’t see many plain white walls in Kirsty and David Wraight’s newly built character home in Blenheim. The winners of this year’s Resene Colour Home Awards have used a number of Resene colours and wallpapers throughout their house, creating a soft, tonal effect with a lovely selection of pastel hues. It’s been a really personal project: the home was built last year by David, 52, and the interior was created by Kirsty, 49. The home also functions as a bed and breakfast and part-time showroom for the couple’s business (building cottages and transportable homes).

“This build has been a lot of fun for me, putting together the colours, flooring and curtains,” says Kirsty. “I love playing with colour and spent a lot of time with fabric samples and paint swatches.” Kirsty and David’s farmhouse-style home, set on 1.5 acres, is clothed in pine weatherboards painted in the warm grey tone of Resene ‘Kensington Grey’ with starchy white accents in Resene ‘Half Rice Cake’ on the trim and verandas.

Kirsty opted for a number of different looks for the bedrooms in her Blenheim home, which doubles as a show home and B&B.

The kitchen is the pièce de résistance, with the soft green of Resene ‘Emerge’ paired with Resene ‘Quarter Rice Cake’, and the spacious scullery featuring units painted in the striking black Resene ‘Blackjack’. “I looked at several French farmhouse kitchens and also a few Hamptons-style kitchens while designing the kitchen and scullery,” says Kirsty. Pops of colour such as those in the kitchen are offset by simpler tones: ceilings and doors are all painted in Resene ‘Quarter Rice Cake’, as are the ensuites, family room and office. The formal lounge, hallway and main bathroom are painted in the subtle white of Resene ‘Blanc’. “We knew we wanted Resene ‘Emerge’ in the kitchen and the rest of the living areas fairly neutral. We still wanted a home with colour so we decided to put some life into the bedrooms.”

The four bedrooms have very individual looks. Three of them feature a dado rail with Resene ‘Quarter Rice Cake’ on the lower third of the wall, and the dusky pink Resene ‘Brandy Rose’, warm beige Resene ‘Truffle’ and earthy green Resene ‘Linen’ on the top. In the fourth bedroom, Kirsty has paired Resene ‘Quarter Rice Cake’ with a blue Eijffinger wallpaper from Resene. Decorating is one of Kirsty’s passions. “It’s something I love to do, and – who knows? – maybe one day I will get around to doing a course in design. It’s a hobby I love at the moment.” She couldn’t have done it without the fabulous painter David Price, she points out. Now that the interior is complete, she is focusing on welcoming B&B guests to the home. “I spent 25 years in hospitality and I have missed the people contact,” she says.